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I've found an unlikely source that supports poylgyny!

A few years ago we had a Japanese woman staying with us to learn English. She was lovely. We hoped we could reach her for Christ, but she wasn't really interested. The way she saw it (and the way she said most Japanese did), was that there were plenty of gods, but not a one of them was actually real. She was very used to doing religious traditions and did them obediently at home, but was very surprised that we not only did these things (eg, saying grace before a meal), but actually believed in God. She had a cartoon (anime, if you will...) that she wanted us to show the kids. We watched it and although it was funny and had a lovely story, it was actually talking about a god the whole time, (Pushba or something? I don't remember, looked like a giant stuffed panda), and the family went to some tree on their way home and gave offerings and stuff. It was weird, and she didn't pick up on any of that being about any gods at all or having anything to do with faith or religion, it was just a traditional thing they all did that didn't mean anything.
I have a wonderful Japanese friend who lives in NZ and became a Christian in NZ. She went to a 'Christian' school in Japan and still didn't learn anything about God, or that He was actually real. It wasn't until she was here and went to church one day and had a huge experience with The Living God that she found out the truth.
The Japanese people are in sore need of someone to tell them that our God, the REAL God is actually there, 100% there, and that they can have a personal relationship with Him. I'm very impressed with anyone for doing that!
 
Oh I don't use it dismissively. And the term harem is starting to gather non-judgemental cache in American culture in the younger generation. "not realize how oppressed they were" is pretty much what feminists think of any woman who has not discovered the benefits of bitterness, hate and rebellion but rather dares find happiness in traditional way of life.

Its really sad how so many people refuse to realize life is better that way.
 
rockfox said:
Oh I don't use it dismissively. And the term harem is starting to gather non-judgemental cache in American culture in the younger generation. "not realize how oppressed they were" is pretty much what feminists think of any woman who has not discovered the benefits of bitterness, hate and rebellion but rather dares find happiness in traditional way of life.

Its really sad how so many people refuse to realize life is better that way.
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lol yeah exactly. It makes me simultaneously laugh maniacally and cry >.<

Feminism ruins people, destroys relationships, and poisons culture. I've seen it happen in my own family: my sister went from being a lovely, Proverbs-31 girl with gorgeous flowing black hair who always dressed stylish to a shaven-head dyed-eyebrow bum who yells at my parents regularly. She's a totally different person. I would not wish that on anyway :\
 
FollowingHim2 said:
A few years ago we had a Japanese woman staying with us to learn English. She was lovely. We hoped we could reach her for Christ, but she wasn't really interested. The way she saw it (and the way she said most Japanese did), was that there were plenty of gods, but not a one of them was actually real. She was very used to doing religious traditions and did them obediently at home, but was very surprised that we not only did these things (eg, saying grace before a meal), but actually believed in God. She had a cartoon (anime, if you will...) that she wanted us to show the kids. We watched it and although it was funny and had a lovely story, it was actually talking about a god the whole time, (Pushba or something? I don't remember, looked like a giant stuffed panda), and the family went to some tree on their way home and gave offerings and stuff. It was weird, and she didn't pick up on any of that being about any gods at all or having anything to do with faith or religion, it was just a traditional thing they all did that didn't mean anything.
I have a wonderful Japanese friend who lives in NZ and became a Christian in NZ. She went to a 'Christian' school in Japan and still didn't learn anything about God, or that He was actually real. It wasn't until she was here and went to church one day and had a huge experience with The Living God that she found out the truth.
The Japanese people are in sore need of someone to tell them that our God, the REAL God is actually there, 100% there, and that they can have a personal relationship with Him. I'm very impressed with anyone for doing that!
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Oops, sorry I don't know why it didn't double quote!

Yeah, they are largely secular.
On the one hand...yes, it does make it a bit more difficult to talk to them about spirituality because they don't have the same cultural basis for it as we do.

On the other hand...that's a good thing! Because that means that those traditions, those belief in fairies? That can be redeemed. There's nothing inherently wrong with fairies. It's worshipping them that's bad. So, why worship them if you don't believe? Well, because it's a tradition. Ok, well, so let's remove the worship part and just do the tradition part. Etc etc. The secularism and lack of true attachment to Shinto or Buddhist beliefs, I think, is a huge grace we can use to introduce them to the Living God.

And I've encountered that myself, yes. That's why I say, again, that what I've found to be best is us, as Christ's hands and feet, LIVING His love for them in our relationships with them. Modeling His love. They long for that, and they notice it, 100%. I remember one day I just asked the usual cash-register lady how she was doing today. She started crying! She said nobody had ever asked her that, and certainly not a customer. After that she always wanted to talk to me :) THAT is how we reach them for Christ...by first loving them as people. Then we show them how Christ's love guides ours, and is even GREATER. :)
 
EternalDreamer said:
I don't believe in the 'dark side of the Force', and it annoys me when Christians perpetuate that idea. Not that there aren't demons or such, but the idea that somehow there are these 'spirit auras' that 'blanket' people. Of course demons will work behind the scenes and influence things...I think their DIRECT influence is a hell of a lot less common than we like to think...but, TLDR; I think most of the time, 'we carry our evil with us'. If there is spiritual darkness in a place, aside from direct instances of demonic activity (posession, etc...), I think it is always better to assume that it is human-caused. The devil doesn't need to do much...we humans are quite capable of evil enough as it is :\
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Well, we're just gonna disagree about a big bucket of things, I'm sure. I'm on the side where I think the influence of demons is usually dramatically understated. Then again, I used to not believe a Christian could be demonized at all. It wasn't until I had a healthy handful of firsthand experiences that I changed my opinion.

I will say that I don't think it's the 'dark side' so much as it is the influence of the territorial spiritual ruler (kosmokrator, if you will) that must be wrestled against and thrown down.

Still, I don't mean to annoy you. Where the Lord lead, He feeds. We don't need to see things the same way to be on the same side.
 
Slumberfreeze said:
Well, we're just gonna disagree about a big bucket of things, I'm sure. I'm on the side where I think the influence of demons is usually dramatically understated. Then again, I used to not believe a Christian could be demonized at all. It wasn't until I had a healthy handful of firsthand experiences that I changed my opinion.

I will say that I don't think it's the 'dark side' so much as it is the influence of the territorial spiritual ruler (kosmokrator, if you will) that must be wrestled against and thrown down.

Still, I don't mean to annoy you. Where the Lord lead, He feeds. We don't need to see things the same way to be on the same side.
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Amen. That is a very mature response and I appreciate it :) Please know I did not mean my response as condemnation either.

And again, I do not mean to understate your own or others' experiences, or to say that demonic activity or influence does not exist. Simply that I come from a background and experience that tells me most of the time when the average Christian talks about it they are, in reality, blaming demons for their own sins, or others'. I have never in my life experienced it myself, nor met or seen others who have (in person), nor have I ever seen it directly in Japan. Again, I do not think that means it does not exist, just that I'm used to the opposite: people blaming it TOO much. Sounds like, from your own experiences, you see people address it too little.

Now this might sound weird: but isn't that wonderful? Isn't it wonderful that we have a loving Creator God who made us to have different experiences, different ways of seeing the world, different ways of worshipping Him, and yet we love Him, and He never changes? :D That's awesome! I don't like when people disagree with me, lol, but I love your love for Christ and your heart attitude about it, so in that, I'm sending a bro-hug over the internet :)
 
Slumberfreeze said:
I also am saddened that the gospel has only found limited acceptance in Japan. I am glad to hear of your ministry which is so desperately needed.
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Did anyone see "Silence" the 2016 movie about Christian missionaries in feudal Japan? I could not bring myself to see it.
 
cnystrom said:
Did anyone see "Silence" the 2016 movie about Christian missionaries in feudal Japan? I could not bring myself to see it.
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I haven't seen it but I've read the book. It's really good.

I know. Obviously there's WW2 as well. Of course as someone who loves Japanese culture and the people it pains me greatly some of the things they've done in the past. It really is like a lover who does something wrong. When my wife snaps or is nasty to a coworker (VERY RARE, please take as an exception! lol my wife is wonderful 99% of the time), but when she slips up it's the same feeling of pain. It's that "aaaah, why would you do that? You can be better than this. You were MADE to be better! Don't do that!" Kind of feeling.

I watched Emperor recently with Tommy Lee Jones. Good film, does a good job of explaining the end of the war, but it really struck me: man, if I have a hard time occasionally, as a Christian in our modern era, with some of what Japan has done, how much more difficult--and how much more Christlike a love--would it have taken to be a missionary THEN? Yikes. I dont honestly know if I could have done it. And yet a few people did. I thank God for them a lot :)
 
For the record, I didn't see @ZecAustin 's warning as negative. Many, many people are not familiar with anime. If I were to tell someone that I loved Grimm's fairy tales, I would warn them that they can be a bit dark and unusual for modern readers.
 
andrew said:
I would almost always rather hook into common ground with an unbeliever and talk about God than talk with a churchgoer about how much more they could be experiencing God ;) outside the walls….
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Couldn't agree more. I get along better with atheists and pagans, most of the time, than vacuous churchians.
 
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